Become Cult-Aware in Dallas
The storied Dallas Morning News religion desk has fallen on hard times. A couple months ago, news came that the last religion reporters were reassigned to cover suburban schools or somesuch. That’s the advantage to the Killing the Buddha religion desk—in this organization, there’s nowhere else to go.
It seems that, in lieu of actual reporting, the DMN religion bloggers have devoted themselves to promoting uncritical use of “cult” terminology. Today, they reprint a press release “on a Saturday event in Garland”:
Cult Awareness, Spiritual Abuse, and Recovery Presentation Saturday, June 20th
2:00-4:00 pm
Mary Stuart Hall
St. Barnabas Episcopal Church
1200 North Shiloh, Garland, 75042
On Saturday, June 20, 2009 from 2:00-4:00, Doug and Wendy Duncan will give a presentation on cult awareness, spiritual abuse, and recovery at St.
Barnabas Episcopal Church in Garland. The Duncans are former members of a Bible-based cult.Wendy is a licensed social worker and holds a master’s degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. She is also the author of I Can’t Hear God Anymore: Life in a Dallas Cult, the true story of the couple’s involvement in and eventual separation from a Bible-based cult. After leaving the cult where he was a member for over twenty years, Doug earned his master’s degree in counseling and is now a licensed professional counselor.
All well and good, right? A heroic escape from an evil “Bible-based cult.” The cult in question, it turns out, is the Trinity Foundation. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, it wasn’t so long ago (2005, to be precise), that the same Dallas Morning News so celebrated Trinity for their “dedicated digging” in unearthing tax fraud on the part of televangelist Benny Hinn. “Trinity has a track record of digging through trash bins as a strategy against televangelists,” gushes the News. Yuck. No wonder the Duncans couldn’t stand it.
Be careful who you call a cult; they may land you a slam-dunk expose. Trinity also happens to be the publisher of the on-hiatus Wittenburg Door. And we have a soft spot for them, so watch out.
The Morning News blog cult-saga continues. On June 12, it promoted this event, also 100% uncritically:
David O’Neil spent years and years working on his book “Laughing at the Devil: a Cult Survivor’s Religious Discoveries.” You can hear him discuss the book at Unity Church of Dallas, 6525 Forest Lane, on June 21 and June 28. Details below from the church’s Web site:
Connections Speaker Series
Myths the Priests Created
Sundays, June 21 & 28, 10-10:45 am
Instructor: David O’NeilMr. O’Neil is a mechanical engineer/computer programmer who, after a cult immersion in his childhood, has spent over thirty years integrating his religious experiences. Since 1994, O’Neil has been investigating the astronomy that portions of Western religion is based upon, and has recently published a book, titled Laughing at the Devil: A Cult Survivor’s Religious Discoveries, that presents the results of his inquiries of the Myths the Priest created.
In his presentations, O’Neil will show what he has learned about the astronomical aspects of two biblical stories: Samson, the Hebrew strongman, and Jesus, the Savior of Humanity. The Jesus lecture will overview mythical changes throughout history, and the scientific understandings behind those myths.
Let’s hear more about that Samson stuff, from the Amazon page:
His search also revealed that Western religion is based upon the ancient science of astronomy, and, amazingly, that the biblical story of Samson is created from astronomical observations made over four thousand years ago.
These discoveries have the potential to help all of us integrate religion and science in a profound new way, and heal the wounds caused by their previous alienation.
So: from cult to hogwash. Or, for the Duncan duo, from Trinity to the Baptists. It can be hard to know the difference. I don’t mean to deny that these folks might have had bad experiences in these communities, but plenty of people say the same thing about, for instance, having been Baptist. Come on, Dallas Morning News, pony up some dough for reporting so your religion writers can lay off the silly press releases.
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June 23rd, 2009 at 4:36 pm
One would think that a magazine such as the DMN would be able to shift through their press releases to ascertain which stories are worthy of news coverage and those that should be circular filed. In this case they’ve clearly been Frey-d Oprah style. Had the DMN bothered to interview some of us who have long affiliations with The Wittenburg Door, they would have soon realized that the Duncans have been throwing this pity party for years, and they will keep on doing this as long as they can find folks who give them a platform.
Wendy and Doug have a SERIOUS chip on their shoulder as do a number of people who leave a religious community, church or some other collective where they have an intimate connection with the group and it turns sour. This is especially true when the person gives up their possessions to actually live with the community as is the case here. So what they are experiencing is the equivalent of a divorce that can be painful beyond belief. But rather than find a partner that better meets their spiritual needs, they’ve chosen to play the role of the “wronged spouse” by assuming the role of victim in the hopes of garnering media attention. I expect tabloid style talk shows like Dr. Phil and Oprah to buy into this BS but I would hope that an outlet as esteemed as the DMN would know better.
Obviously, this dynamic isn’t limited to people in the religious sphere as evidence by the bonding that takes place at fraternities, a political campaign, theatrical event, running a grassroots activist nonprofit, publishing a magazine or any activity that unites people together for a common. To an outsider, the group may appear to be cliquish and exhibit some cult-like symptoms (e.g., adherence to a leader’s ideology instead of engaging in critical thinking, participation in joint rituals – but also let us not forget that the early Christians were called a cult because they refused to go along with the status quo). As difficult as it might have been to leave Trinity Foundation, a fraternity, or a marriage people involved in these scenarios are free to leave at any time without suffering the repercussions that will happen to an ex-Scientologist for instance.
As Senior Contributing Editor for the Wittenburg Door, I have been taking checks from Trinity Foundation for over ten years. Also, my editor, who has been with the Door for over twenty years, is considered to be an expert on the Waco tragedy. He is one of the most astute people I have ever met and if he would have told me to leave if he thought they exhibited signs they were morphing into a cult. Trust me, if I had suspected cult-like activity, I would have bolted for the hills just like I did when I found out that at few post 9/11 and Emergent Church ™ organizations I had endorsed morphed into Lord of the Flies scenarios. (I have no problems admitting I’m wrong and then making amends as need be.)
I am not saying Trinity Foundation is perfect but a quick read of The Wittenburg Door’s back issues will indicate that they are often the biggest butt of the joke, going so far as to name themselves as “Loser of the Year.” Groups that exhibit cult-like symptoms lose their sense of humor – poke fun at Scientology and then watch yourself facing an IRS audit (or worse).